Method and apparatus for automatically reconfiguring a host debugger based on a target MCU identity

Abstract

A Host Debugger and a Modular Development System (MDS) are dynamically reconfigured. The Host Debugger queries the MDS for the identity of its Target MCU. The Host Debugger receives a message containing the Target MCU identity. The corresponding Host Debug and MDS environments are then loaded based on the received Target MCU identity.

Claims

1. A method for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU, said method comprising:

a) querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files, wherein step (d) comprises:

(1) loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU, and

(2) dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, wherein:

the object file format for each of the one or more object files is dynamically determined by looking for specified patterns in the headers of the object files.

2. The method in claim 1 wherein step (d) further comprises:

loading one or more Assembler Mnemonic Tables corresponding to the Target MCU into the Host Debugger.

3. The method in claim 1 wherein step (d) further comprises:

loading Program Symbolics into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU.

4. The method in claim 1 wherein step (d) further comprises:

loading a Memory Map corresponding to the Target MCU into the Host Debugger.

5. The method in claim 1 wherein step (d) further comprises:

reconfiguring a command syntax for the Host Debugger.

6. A method for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU, said method comprising:

a) querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files, wherein step (d) comprises:

(1) loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU,

(2) dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, and

(3) reconfiguring the Symbol Tables to accept data in the format corresponding to the dynamically determined object file formats.

7. A method for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU, said method comprising:

a) querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files, wherein step (d) comprises:

(1) loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU,

(2) dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, and

(3) executing a state machine sequence of functions which read in the object files and inserts the data into the Symbol Tables.

8. An apparatus for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU comprising:

a) means for querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) means for receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) means for utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) means for reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files comprising:

(1) means for loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU,

(2) means for dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, wherein:

the object file format for each of the one or more object files is dynamically determined by looking for specified patterns in the headers of the object files.

9. The method in claim 1 wherein step (d) further comprises:

reconfiguring a graphical user interface for the Host Debugger.

10. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein element (d) further comprises:

means for loading one or more Assembler Mneumonic Tables corresponding to the Target MCU into the Host Debugger.

11. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein element (d) further comprises:

means for loading Program Symbolics into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU.

12. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein element (d) further comprises:

means for loading a Memory Map corresponding to the Target MCU into the Host Debugger.

13. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein element (d) further comprises:

means for reconfiguring the command syntax for the Host Debugger.

14. The apparatus in claim 8 wherein element (d) further comprises:

means for reconfiguring a graphical user interface for the Host Debugger.

15. An apparatus for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU comprising:

a) means for querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) means for receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) means for utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) means for reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files comprising:

(1) means for loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU,

(2) means for dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, and

(3) means for reconfiguring the Symbol Tables to accept data in the format corresponding to the dynamically determined object file formats.

16. An apparatus for automatically reconfiguring a Host Debugger to correspond to a Target MCU comprising:

a) means for querying the Target MCU to send a station type identification;

b) means for receiving the station type identification from the Target MCU;

c) means for utilizing the station type identification received from the Target MCU to identify a set of corresponding files; and

d) means for reconfiguring the Host Debugger based on the contents of one or more files in the set of corresponding files comprising:

(1) means for loading Symbol Tables into the Host Debugger corresponding to one or more programs loaded into the Target MCU,

(2) means for dynamically determining an object file format for each of the one or more object files containing the Symbol Tables, and

(3) means for executing a state machine sequence of functions which read in the object files and inserts the data into the Symbol Tables.